The late dictator’s downfall is a cautionary tale for those who seek to obliterate dissent in a country of 100 million people
On 28 January 2011, a reporter colleague and I boarded a ghostly Cairo metro train travelling east below the Nile, from Giza to the city centre. Far above us, the capital was ablaze. Pockets of fighting between anti-government protesters and police shook the streets; bridges across the river were revolutionary battlegrounds; ribbons of smoke and teargas filled the sky. In a final, futile attempt at self-preservation, the country’s authoritarian regime had shut down mobile networks and switched off the internet, so reliable news was hard to come by and we didn’t know who would emerge triumphant from what had already been termed Egypt’s “day of rage”.
Related: Hosni Mubarak obituary
Related: If Sisi’s brutality in Egypt continues, the results could be dire for Europe | Amr Darrag
Continue reading...* This article was originally published here
0 Comments